Dear all experts,

I would like to know your solutions, suggestions or recommendation on how to clean heatsinks.

Mine kinda dusty, i mean really dusty and i was wondering if there is a better way to clean it.

Is there a liquid solution to this where we can dip it in ? Vaccum it ? brush it off ??

Anything.....

Usually I just remove it, and give it a good wash with dishwashing liquid under running filtered water. Then dry it with a towel, and let it air dry fully.

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1138973/

a bar of soap cleans better on dirt than dishwasher(more on oil/grease).. but don't drop the bar of soap for someone else to pickup ya?

the best way is to use the clorox for a few minutes... it's the faster solution over others...

Use cyber clean to absorb all the dust

use vaccum will do

i used vacuum for all these years.

Juz wondering, is it possible to remove the heatsink? If can, any tutorials? Thx

=D

If just let the water flow through the heatsink will it be ok? Cuz I don't have vacuum

This post has been edited by hafizul88: Mar 19 2010, 04:02 AM

if u wan clean on with water ... then spray the water on the heatsink 1st ... then dip with coke aka coca cola for 2-4 hour then wash with water again

dry up fully ... u will see the result

I'll try when I wanna do cleaning after this

u know the Mr Muscle cleaner rite

get their toilet cleaner and soak the heatsink with that for a few minutes.take it out and clean it with paper towel or cloth as best as u can and mount it to ur rig and run prime for a few minutes.

the heat should make it dry.tested on my old Hyper 212 before.

i will vacuum the dust if for minor cleaning solution

full cleaning solution i will vacuum the heatsink, and the using tissue paper to mop the dust...and after that i immerse it into clorox/bleach

i like this cleaning method..... but maybe glo dish washer....... hahahah!!

If your Heatsink fan is removable then you can Water Blast it...


Thats what i do with my Apache cpu cooler....


if it gets dirty....i just remove the fan and just water blast the heatsink


FYI: Water Blast--> Pressurized Water Jet, like those house cleaning thing..

i just dip the heatsink in water overnight

i got a spare cooler anyway

so no need rushing cleaning it

dip overnight then dry it overday

The worse dirt i have seen on a heat sink is a computer owned by a metal workshop. They house the pc next to cutting machines and the pc runs more than 10 hours a day. I need to use spray can engine degreaser to clean the thing. What stuck there is a combination of dust/ oil/ metal particles. Then after that rinse with water. Removed the old thermal paste and walla good as new.

But i have come across a lot of heat sink with different dust stuck on them. And they relate very well to the environment you keep them in. Here is a summary i compiled for you.

Near the window with ventilation - Black dust from outside. Cloggy and slightly sticky. Can be cleaned with just a brush.

Any environment with construction going on - Construction dust color, means sandy colored dust. Not sticky. Can be cleaned with brush. But total disassembly is the best.

Inside room with bedding - Fiberous dust. Usually white or fabric colored dust. Cloggy but not sticky. Can be cleaned with a brush.

Heavy pollution area like machining shops, workshops, chemical plants - Now this you really need to dissasemble and clean with chemicals. That could range from dish washing detergent to degreaser.

Anyway for most situations, you do not need to take out the heat sink and clean it. Just brushing among the fan blades to clear the top of the heat sink is sufficient. Air conditioned room does not guarantee you are dust free also. The only advantage is that the CPU can run work longer with clogged up heatsink because the cold air compensates for lost heat dissipation. What you need to worry is the thermal paste between the CPU and heatsink. They harden over time and cannot transfer heat over more efficiently.

There are more technicalities but they are tiring to type. hahaha.

This post has been edited by netmatrix: Apr 8 2010, 12:54 PM

vacum is easy to use,haha